


homecoming

by larvitar



Series: summer depression [4]
Category: The Miseducation of Cameron Post - Emily M. Danforth
Genre: F/F, New Year's Eve, aunt ruth is mentioned but not discussed cause fuck that bitch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:29:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29761752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larvitar/pseuds/larvitar
Summary: Cameron Post is twenty-two years old on the edge of a new millennium as she tries to manage her old life with her new one.☆★☆cameron x coley, final one-shot with prequels, angsty but mildly fluffy
Relationships: Cameron Post/Coley Taylor
Series: summer depression [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1535297
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	homecoming

**Author's Note:**

> you already know the title from the girl in red song (https://youtu.be/2FIL44x_25M) even though the song itself doesn’t really correlate to the fic. OOPS! anyway this is my last fic in this series. will i write more cam post? c’est possible. but this is my final fic of this post-book series. if you haven’t read the other three fics, read them, or this fic won’t make that much sense (or you at least won’t understand how coley and cam get reconnected to each other). silly little dykes on new year’s. enjoy. likes and comments always appreciated.

“You ready for the new millennium, Cam?”

The December air is cold around them, especially in Seattle. The two are lighting up a pipe of weed in the cool air, the night before New Year’s. It’s Jane’s own, having headed back to the commune after her, Jane, and Adam went their separate ways almost forever ago. She’s visiting Cameron now in Seattle, with Adam set to come up tomorrow afternoon. A reunion.

Cameron lights up the pipe, finally, after her thoughts distracting her from it pass. The skunky smell fills the air, and she takes a humble puff before handing it back to Jane.

“I dunno. I don’t even know if I want it to be a new decade, much less a new millenium.” Jane grasps for the lighter, with Cameron handing it back to her, mumbling a “sorry” before she continues.

“I fucking hated the 90s, man.” She sighs and looks up, creating a small cloud of condensation from the chilly winter air. “So much fuckin’... self hatred.”

Jane exhales a cloud of her own, this one of smoke. She grins leerily at Cameron, chuckling a bit. “You know, if you were anyone else, I’d kill you before letting you hang out with your ex who sent you to Bible Camp for homos.” Cameron scoffs.

“I can’t help being a dyke, Jane.” She didn’t forgive Coley, no, not quite, not really at all. But they were kids. Shitty, duh, but they were kids stuck in a world of Christian brainwashing by rural jackasses with their heads so thoroughly up their ass they spewed bullshit out of their mouth, and then some. Cam didn’t forgive it. No, she couldn’t. But she understood.

Jane laughed airily, offering the pipe to Cameron. “You want the last hit?” She blinked. “Sure.” With that, she struggled to light up the remaining weed left in the bowl.

“You know, after we went our separate ways, I ended up in the town my mom moved to after the whole converting bull.” Jane blinked, an unreadable expression on her face. “I didn’t see my mom, but I saw the girl who my mom caught me with.” Cam exhaled the smoke, coughing a bit. “Where?”

“Grocery store. I needed pads.”

“And what did you say to her?”

“Small talk, mainly. She was at community college then. But before she left, she told me ‘Jane, I’m sorry.’”

Cameron looked at her quizzically, before handing back the pipe. “And?”

“I just told her not to apologize. That it wasn’t her fault. That she didn’t do anything.”

“Nothing else?”

“Nothing else. That was that. Then I left. That was the best closure I could’ve gotten.”

“Was it really?”

“Jeez, Cam, twenty questions much?” Jane chuckled, before her face went stony. “I don’t know. But it was good enough, I think.”

“I guess that’s how it has to be.”

Jane blinks. “Yeah. I guess.”

☆★☆

The New Year’s arrangement is strange. Lindsey, ever the networker, was throwing a party for the occasion. Cam was obviously invited, and by proxy, so were Jane and Adam. Jane and Lindsey, while understanding the plight of the dyke staying friends with many an ex, were still not keen on the fact Cam and Coley were now friends. Adam had been nothing but warm, even in the face of her prior actions. Even if Lindsey refused to invite her, however, one of Lindsey’s exes, a Korean girl who went by Ky, had made friends with Coley while the two were at Montana State, making Coley be invited to the party regardless. That’s what made Cameron and Coley cross paths again for the first time since they were slightly stoned 15 year-olds, anyway. 

“I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever spoken to her,” Adam said, idly waving around a blunt as he talked with Cam and Jane in Cameron’s suffocatingly-small studio apartment a few hours after Adam got into Seattle. “That’s the main thing. I just don’t know what to say.”

“Ask her if she got a papercut on her clit humping a Bible. Easy.”

Cam scrunched up her face, taking the blunt from Adam. “If you’re going to make jabs at her, at least don’t make them so  _ graphic _ .” Jane laughed airily, while Adam turned to Cam as she took a hit.

“Did you find out what happened to her after, even?”

Cameron blew smoke out, looking quizzically at him. “What do you mean?”

“Like, after all the bullshit that happened after the summer.”

Cam blinked. They hadn’t talked about the past that much. “Um, I don’t know. She was with Brett until she was 18, and then she went to Montana State and had a thing with this girl for a year. And then she met Ky, and Kara, and Monika at some underground LGBT group.” She shrugged, taking another hit before passing the blunt off to Jane. “I dunno. I try not to think about it too much.”

“Probably for the best,” Adam replied. “You deserve an award for befriending her again in the first place. Putting all that bull behind you isn’t easy.”

Jane chuckled, twirling the blunt around in her fingers as she exhaled. “Sure isn’t,” she said, putting the blunt back up to her mouth. “Sure isn’t.”

☆★☆

Cam, Jane, and Adam arrive at the party fashionably late. It’s filled with all the manner of alcohol, decorations, and everything else. Lindsey is just opening a bottle of champagne as the three enter.

Lindsey turns to them while pouring the champagne into the cups of multiple people, grinning. The three make their way over to her just as she’s finished pouring.

“Happy Y2K, homos.” She puts down the bottle of champagne on a nearby table, giving Cam an affectionate noogie while the other girl laughs and playfully shoves her off.

“Jane, Adam, good to see you guys again. How are things?” Jane and Adam look at each other, unsure of who should be speaking first, before laughing as Adam gestures to Jane, letting her go ahead.

“Honestly, the commune life is kinda dying out. People are less interested in that sort of shit nowadays.” 

Lindsey furrows her brow. “Really? I think it’d be a good escape from… whatever the fuck is going on right now.”

Jane laughs lightly. “You’d think. And yet…” She shrugs.

“What about you, Adam?” Lindsey asks. “It's been a hot second. What have you been up to?”

“Mostly rez work in the Dakotas. I’ve mostly been trying to get everybody on the rez running water  _ all  _ the time, not only sometimes, but it’s difficult work.” Adam scoffs. “Especially when the governors have no intent of making it easier.”

“Suffocating government- the only thing that doesn’t change across this country.” Lindsey barks a laugh, and Adam quirks a smile.

“Well, glad to know life isn’t completely hell.”

“It’s manageable,” Adam replies in his monotone. Lindsey snickers. “You’re still fucking hilarious, Adam.”

Adam shrugs. “Perks of the job.”

“Well,” Lindsey starts, “if either of you would like drinks, or any sort of gaudy eyewear-“ She directs a hand to a pile of glasses with the middle zeroes of 2000- “-I got you covered.”

Jane picks up a pair of the glasses, inspecting them, before sneering. “Can’t wait to see more of these for all New Year’s Eves for the next nine years.”

Lindsey chuckles. “Well, in any case, please, make yourself comfortable.”

“I doubt that’ll be a problem,” Cam says. “I doubt it.”

☆★☆

Indeed, Adam and Jane blend seamlessly in with the crowd of intriguing guests. It only takes about twenty minutes after fashionably late for Ky, Kara, Monika, and Coley to show up. Lindsey instantly begins chatting up Ky, and Kara and Monika float over to get drinks, while Coley approaches Cam.

“Hey, Cam.” She gives the other girl a small side-hug, pulling back. “Always good to see you.”

Cameron smiles. “Of course. It’s always good to see you too, Coley.” There’s a slight pause, with Cam rocking nervously on her heels. “I’d also like to introduce you to two of my friends. I don’t think you’ve met Jane and Adam?” With that, Cameron calls the two over, from where they’re seemingly chatting it up with other party guests.

Adam’s smile is small yet genuine, as he offers her a handshake. “Hi. Adam Red Eagle. Good to finally meet you.” He blinks. “I mean that genuinely. It sounds like I’m not serious, but I am.”

Coley laughs lightly. “Good to meet you, Adam. I’ve heard good things.” She turns to Jane, who has a polite smile on her face. “Jane Fonda. And that’s…”

“...actually my name, yes. Hippies are like that.” Coley offers another small chuckle at that, giving Jane a handshake of her own.

“It’s so strange to finally meet you.” Jane quips, and Cam blinks, afraid this encounter will quickly go sour. “After hearing so much about you.  _ From _ you, even.”

“I mean, it’s not…” Coley sighs. “There was a lot going on. It wasn’t right. I did a lot of dumb shit.”

Jane looks at her leerily. “I appreciate the honesty, at least.”

“It’s hard to talk about, I know. I don’t expect forgiveness. I just expect… I don’t know. I don’t even know if I expect anything.”

Adam then offers her a drink, of which he swiped from a nearby table. “Being a teenager is just generally fucked up.” She smiles gratefully at him, before popping open the can of her drink. “Thanks, Adam.”

“Of course.” He replied, nodding at her.

Jane scoffed a little at the interaction, silencing her words by her nursing her own drink. “Fucked up, indeed.” Her next words were mumbled, but Cam, still a witness in this whole altercation, was able to hear them. “Something like fucked up.”

☆★☆

Jane didn’t talk to Coley really after that. Which was fine. Cam couldn’t expect her to, especially on the first interaction after hearing all the shit she did all those years ago. Still, it’s nevertheless disappointing to have a tense situation take place. Cameron sighs. She doesn’t know what she expected.

Adam and Coley get along though, which is nice. A  _ genuine _ sort of getting along, too— they’ve been conversing a bit over the night, and laughing, and it feels good. It feels right. 

Lindsey sidles up to her. “Seems like Miss Ex-Dyke is doing pretty good out there.” Cam scoffs. “Don’t call her that. She’s come to terms with it now.”

Lindsey raises her eyebrows. “So I’m told.” A beat of silence passes until Lindsey speaks again. “So is there a reason you’re not boning her, or…” Cam shoves her, face contorted in mock-disgust. “You’re awful! Shut the fuck up.”

Lindsey laughs. “No, but seriously. Why? You got her back, and she’s supposedly gay now. Ky affectionately calls her ‘farmer dyke’, like, all the time.”

Cameron looks at Coley, really  _ looks  _ at her. It’s unlikely her love for her ever truly went away. There’s still the remnants of something that rests in the bottom of her heart, somehow. 

“Just doesn’t feel right. I don’t know.”

“Oooookay, then…” Lindsey playfully shoves Cam. “Why haven’t you boned  _ anyone  _ in forever?”

Lindsey cackles, and Cam pushes her off. “Been too busy, I guess.”

“Okay, okay, fair enough. I know, you finished your silly little script and we’re gonna start looking for actresses for your coming of age flick in the start of January.” 

Cameron grins. It’s a big accomplishment, really, it is. Even if she makes some obscure piece of dyke cinema only like three people will get to see, one of them being Lindsey.

“I’ll consider love in the new millennium, okay? Just not now.”

“Speaking of-“ Lindsey said, stealing a look at her oven clock, “-It’s almost midnight. It’s like…” She squinted, trying to read the numbers. “...11:53, I think.” 

Cam blinked. “Okay. I need to go do something.” 

Lindsey chuckled. “Okay, you silly little dyke. Have fun.” With a resounding clap on Cam’s back, Cameron went off. “Don’t get hurt,” Lindsey adds, seeing her take Coley onto the porch. “Please don’t.”

☆★☆

The Seattle air is quiet. Something she misses about Miles Shitty is that at least she could see all the stars at night. There’s barely any here. The two sit down on a loveseat Lindsey got from a rummage sale a few months ago, which Cameron helped her move up. Cam adjusts herself on it, which is an admittedly hard task, as it isn’t exactly comfortable. As soon as she’s at a position where she probably won’t break her back, she straightens up and sighs, preparing for her next words.

“I found Grandma Post’s obituary about a month ago.”

Coley blinks. “You- how-“

“They post obituaries by county on the web now. Sometimes, my mind races about Miles City and leaving everything behind, so I check the Custer County obituaries just to be sure.”

“When did she-“

“Two years ago. I was late. I only started checking obituaries in June, and Grandma Post died two years ago. June 26th, 1997. Her only son passed away in a car accident in 1989. Survived by her missing granddaughter, Cameron Post.”

Coley blinks, again. “So how did you find an old one?”

“I was just searching idly through past years. I didn’t-“ She swallows- “-I didn’t expect to find anything. At least, not from now or the past few years.”

A silence sets between them. She needed to tell somebody she was the last of her family. Coley Taylor, who knew her since forever (for better or worse), seemed like the best option. 

“Do you think-  _ she _ would’ve tried to tell you about it?”

Cameron looks ahead at the dark, empty sky. There’s really so few stars up there. “I dunno. I don’t think so. I think she probably liked to think I was dead, too.”

“Grandma Post was-“

“Yeah. So now it’s just me, I guess.”

“No. That’s not true.” Coley put her hand over Cameron’s, causing Cam to look up at her.

“You have me, and you have Lindsey, and you  _ still  _ talk to Jane and Adam, too. We’re here, because we can love you as is. Our love isn’t conditional, like hers was.”

Cam grips her hand, turning back to the sky. “Lydia told me my parents probably wouldn’t have accepted it. But I don’t know.”

“I really didn’t know that much about them. I was twelve. I couldn’t have known if they would’ve taken me.”

Coley gives her hand a tentative squeeze, leaning her head on Cam’s shoulder. “No use sweating the ‘if’s anymore. It was the edge of a decade then, and it’s the edge of a millennium now.”

Cameron puts her head on top of Coley’s. It doesn’t feel like it used to, no, not quite, but they can’t go back. She won’t be a naive 15 year-old teetering on the edge. She couldn’t be with Coley, no, not again, not ever again, even if God’s Promise never happened. Maybe some people were meant to play different roles in your childhood than in your adulthood. Cam meditates on that revelation, humming.

“I’m glad we’re friends, Cam.”

Cam relaxes. “Me too.”

“I’m glad my first moments of the millennium will be these ones.” Cam smiles. In the background, she hears counting from inside.

The clock strikes midnight, and the year is 2000. 

Cameron Post is happy.

☆★☆

**Author's Note:**

> i think cam’s relationship w grandma post was probably one of the relationships that had the most nuances in the book. it would be really easy to write her off as a homophobic clown, but the truth is that cam really loves her and she’s one of her last surviving family members. it’s really evident through their relationship that you can have people who love you not really understand you all that much. i don’t think cam would ever want to go back to miles city all that much, and i doubt ruth would attempt to contact her after her running away. i also think it would be very easy to put cam and coley in a romantic relationship but i think if they were to come back to each other post-book they wouldn’t want that, but their relationship would be deeper than a friendship. dykes, ya know? anyway. love these characters so so awfully much. ty emily danforth for giving them so much depth and nuance. if you have anything to say, whether about this series of fics or about this fic specifically, i always appreciate a good comment (or, my tumblr inbox is always open).  
> ☆★☆  
> torture me on tumblr  
> krookodyke.tumblr.com


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